Page 74 of Stealing His Christmas Present

Chapter 29

I NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING, but I was on my own. Saying anything to my men was too much of a risk, and I didn’t trust them.

But if Claudia had taught me one thing, it was that there were some people who were trustworthy.

Maybe I could trust someone.

Someone who cared about her as much as I did.

Lorenzo.

We had to meet in secret in the middle of nowhere because there were eyes everywhere. It had taken me a while to lose all of Giacomo’s spies.

I leaned against the hood of my car, waiting.

Lorenzo pulled over not too far away and got out of the car, then strolled toward me.

“You wanted to meet,” he said, eyeing me with suspicion.

“Giacomo Trovato approached me with a plan to destroy your family. He also claims he’s my father.” I hoped I wasn’t placing my trust in the wrong place.

Lorenzo’s eyebrows lifted.

“He’s working with Benjamin, but he plans to betray him. He thinks I’ll help him defeat you and Lombardi, and then he and I will rule the city.”

“Since you’re telling me all this, I take it you don’t trust him.”

“No, I don’t. If he’s willing to betray Benjamin, he intends to betray me too. And our goals don’t align either, but he doesn’t know that.”

“He’s your father.” Lorenzo narrowed his eyes at me.

“A father who never gave a shit about me. I don’t need him in my life, and I don’t think he wants to be in it either. He wants to use me.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I need your help to take him out. Both him and Benjamin. Giacomo believes I got close to Claudia because I want to destroy your family and take over your territory. He wants to play me, but we can play him instead.”

Lorenzo was quiet.

“I want to set a trap for Giacomo. Benjamin is very elusive, as you already know, but we can expose him.”

“I’m debating whether I should trust you.”

“Then you should hear out my plan.”

“I’m listening.”

“Benjamin has a lot of sex clubs all over the city.”

“I know. So what? He’s not there,” Lorenzo said.

“But the world doesn’t know who he is. They don’t know what he’s doing. We could expose him. Bring something to his club that the cops will find.”

“I’m not sure that will work.”

“I’ll call my father and tell him that I want to kill you first. You and I will go to one of those clubs because I’ll claim it’s the only way you’ll go somewhere with me alone, and that I’ll lie I want to talk to you because I want your advice on how to get Claudia back. Let’s say you want privacy and there are no guards, and I want to pretend we were attacked and I managed to survive, so I could go console Claudia.

“Giacomo will surely lie and tell Benjamin to make sure there aren’t any witnesses because it’s all part of the plan. My father will come with his men, but what he won’t know is that your men will be waiting. They’ll be hiding and surround Giacomo once he gets to the club. There will be a shootout. We’ll leave the bodies and evidence against Benjamin in the club for the cops to find. Our problems will be solved.”

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